


The Meeting Place

by rosierey



Series: Short Movie [2]
Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Prequel, and new to america, and too confident for his own good, benji is star struck, ethan is thot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 16:11:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16267718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosierey/pseuds/rosierey
Summary: How did Benji and Ethan meet all those years ago?A Prequel to 'Standing Next to Me'





	The Meeting Place

**Author's Note:**

> so this is a prequel to my other fic 'standing next to me' wherein Benji briefly mentions them meeting and i wanted to expand on it cos i need more ethanji content! enjoy!

America was terrifying. That's all Benji could think every time he stepped out of his door. It was too big and too loud. He felt tiny here, and it was making his anxiety spike worse than ever. He probably wouldn't leave the house if he didn't have a job to go to- a job he wanted desperately to do well at. 

The Imf was just as intimidating though. He had is own desk in a bullpen of other technicians but he felt entirely out of place. Nearly everyone there was American and very standoff-ish to the newbie. Not that he minded. Benji was very socially awkward, from years of talking to computers more than people. Now he was surrounded by a 'team', people he had to talk to and work with and that wasn't his purview . 

-

He tried walking to work that day. He'd taken an apartment not too far because he still didn't have an American driver's license, and he was trying to get fitter. But of course it was raining and he almost got run over by a cyclist, and by the time he got to work he was in a state. 

In the lift the people's eyes followed him, judgmentally. They were all dressed in spiffy suits, or dark, sensible field gear. Benji was in another cardigan and slacks and trainers. He sniffed and pushed his glasses up his nose, determined not to wilt under their gazes.

The doors opened on his floor and he walked out, shoes squelching. 

He found his desk and sat, already tired. Other agents went about their business around him, chatting through the phone and typing at the computers. The world moved around Benji and he felt utterly alone. Swallowing hard, he loaded the monitors and got to work on some code. 

Another reason the other technicians didn't like him was he was better than most of them. Faster, that is. He could find the best and fastest ways around encryption and firewalls. He'd had a hand in improving and updating the Mask Machine- although they'd never let him try it out, to his chagrin. To them he was probably the teacher's pet. 

By mid-morning he was slumped even lower in his chair, tapping 'enter' every minute as the algorithm wrote itself in circles on the screen. He sighed and wondered when he could go for a cigarette break. It was a old habit, bought over from his youth in Britain, but he was desperate to quit because he was starting to wheeze when he walked up the stairs to his flat. 

"Excuse me?"

Benji looked around and immediately sat up. An agent stood to his right, a patient look on his face. His gorgeous, gorgeous face. Benji immediately felt himself starting to blush. 

"Uh, y-yes."

"Are you Agent Dunn?" He asked, smiling a little. 

"That's me," Benji adjusted his glasses nervously. This guy was definitely a field agent- he was buff and dressed in black, practical shirt and jeans. "H-how can I help you?"

"Marcus sent me down from Analytics, he said I should talk to you about getting a hack." If Benji wasn't so nervous he'd have laughed at the guy's terminology- he clearly didn't start out as a technician. He was much too handsome too, Benji couldn't stop looking at his jaw. 

"Oh sure, that's my specialty. What'dya need?" Benji rolled closer to the computer, opening a new tab. The agent reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Benji. Scrawled quickly in Biro was an e-mail address. 

"I need to get into her inbox and see where the new rendezvous co-ordinates are." He explained. 

Benji nodded. "Okay, let's take a look." He started to type but was all too aware of the agent watching him. He leaned against Benji's desk and watched the screen intently. That single minded focus must be intimidating as hell, Benji thought. 

There was a fairly simple encryption but it was piled up with more software that Benji's code would have to get through. He chewed his lip and hummed and the agent looked at him.

"What? What is it? Talk to me, Dunn."

"Hm? Oh, nothing it's just it'll take about two hours before we can slip in unnoticed. My code is good but it's thorough which means it'll take a little time," he explained pointing with his pen at the slowly loading text. He looked between the screen and the man's unreadable gaze. "S-sorry?"

"No that's fine. That's good." The agents face morphed into an entirely unexpected, triumphant smile. Benji bit his pen lid hard and averted his gaze. 

Now he knew who this guy was. How it took his this long, he'll never know, but it was Ethan bloody Hunt standing next to him. Everyone knew this guy, or whispered about him. He was going to be the Imf's top agent in no time at all, even after the very poorly classified mission that went wrong in Vienna. 

"I'm Ethan by the way. Hunt." He said, offering a hand. 

"Benji Dunn." 

Ethan smiled in amusement. "I know."

"No, I mean call me Benji. Please." Benji shook his hand as Ethan nodded.

"Well, would you like to get some coffee, Benji?" Ethan asked. Benji almost choked on his pen. 

"C-coffee?" He managed.

"Yeah, the cafeteria is alright. You've got an hour to waste, right?" Ethan grinned and raised his eyebrows expectantly. He looked so boyishly sweet for a lethal government agent, and those dimples; Benji couldn't see how he could say no.

"Sure." He whispered weakly.

"Great." 

-

Benji hadn't set foot in the cafeteria. There was too much noise and too many people for his liking. The place was much too hot and felt like a giant glass box. Benji would usually skip lunch, engrossed in code, and would smoke if he really needed a break. His fingers were feeling itchy for a cigarette already as he followed Ethan through the door. The man walked like he owned the place but there was no trace of arrogance in his strut. 

It surprised Benji, when they stood side by side at the drinks table, that he was taller than Ethan by a few inches. He realised he was staring at Ethan's hair when Ethan glanced at Benji curiously.

"Sugar?"

"Pardon?"

Ethan held up the Styrofoam cup, "do you take sugar?"

"Oh, sure." Benji answered, realising it was coffee in the cup and he didn't drink coffee. He'd never got a taste for it but everyone in this damn country seemed to drink it (and what they did to tea was ghastly).

"So how long have you been with the Imf?" Ethan asked as he led then to a table with both cups in his hand. Benji saw a couple of people look their way and felt his face heating up again.

"Um about four months." He sat across from Ethan and took the coffee that was slide to him between his hands. Ethan leaned back in his chair with ease, tapping his fingers gently against his cup. He looked at Benji with infinitely curious eyes, like he was trying to figure him out. Benji never thought he was that complicated. He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.

"How do you like it?" Ethan said, taking a sip of his drink. Benji gazed into his. Coffee always smelt deceptively good but the flavour made his mouth taste funny for the rest of the day.

"It's great, yeh." Benji answered but it was much too fast.

Ethan smiled knowingly, "Benji."

"I... It's weird settling in here," Benji glanced around like someone might be listening. "Everyone is..."

"They're jerks?"

Benji laughed and ducked his head, "I was just going to say snobby." Ethan grinned brightly and Benji was sure he'd never been smiled at like that by someone so good looking before. 

Oh no. 

He looked into his coffee again. Was he getting a crush already? But who could blame him? It was Ethan Hunt sitting in front of him smiling. 

"Everyone is like that to the newbie, they'll settle down in a month or two," Ethan said. "Marcus told me you moved from analytics pretty quickly so some people might be a little... jealous. If anyone bothers you just let me know."

"Oh well, thank you," Benji stammered.

"Look I've gotta go, I forgot I have to write up a mission report," Ethan stood and swigged the last of his coffee. Benji realised he hadn't touched his. "But I'll come by later about the e-mail?"

Benji nodded, "yes sure, sure." 

Ethan grinned again and tapped his knuckles on the table top, "see you later, Benji." 

He watched the man walk away, in a mild state of shock. That wasn't how Benji expected his day to go but it was a bloody good improvement. He stared after Ethan then lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip, immediately spluttering when he remember it was coffee. When he looked back Ethan was gone and Benji thought for the first time, maybe he could like it here.

**Author's Note:**

> title comes from the last shadow puppets!


End file.
